Code Name: Jackal
Director: Bae Hyoung-jun
Year: 2012
Rating: 5.5
Country:
Korea
I have been on a small run of Korean films of
late. Korea makes some wonderful films, but it isn't often I get around to
one. Not sure exactly what I was looking for tonight, but I went through
the ones that were sitting on my hard drive. Serial killer, serial killer,
hitman, hitmen, serial killer, serial killer, assassin, zombies, pandemic,
serial killer, zombies, hitman and so on. Korea is making some dark films
these days. I settled for this film that had two professional killers but
is basically a comedy that verges on being a bedroom farce. Some funny bits,
pleasant enough with a few twists but slower than it should have been and
it doesn't really make much sense when you think about it afterwards. That
is if you bother to give it another thought.
The police have been after a professional
killer for years that they have named the Jackal - in honor I suppose of
Carlos. They come across a clue that makes them think that his next target
will be in a hotel in a small town. They don't know who the target will be
or what the Jackal looks like - but we do. We also know his target - Choi
Hyun - a popular singer played by Kim Jae-joong who in real life is a part
of a K-Pop Boys Band and certainly looks the part. But it turns out not to
be his lucky day because there is a second killer who has been hired to murder
him. That from a spurned lover and the killer is a female on her first job
- Min Jung (Song Ji-hyo). It all gets very silly as Jackal is told to wait
till he is given the word, the female killer can't quite make up her mind
whether to go through with it and they have a nice rapport going as he tries
to convince her that she has the wrong man. She makes him sing, dance and
show his chest to see.
But it gets screwier as a fanatic fan shows
up with a taser and wants to kill him and then herself, his father arrives
as does his mistress, the desk clerk keeps demanding more money from the
cops, the cops have the hotel staked out but are as competent as the Keystone
Cops - at one point they go into Choi Hyun's room and find him all tied up
with her there and think it is a sex game. Definitely more goofy comedy than
suspense and it is mildly funny at times. Good natured for a hitman film
and decent supporting roles for the cast. Nice if not too realistic
an ending that I didn't see coming. It is directed by Bae Hyoung-jun and
goes on for 107-minutes though it may feel longer.
